Electronic registration (ER) of product transactions recently has become available for the purpose of reducing unauthorized returns of purchased products and/or unauthorized warranty repair on purchased products. Electronic product registrations systems provided for this purpose are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,978,774; 6,018,719; and 6,085,172, the disclosures of which are all incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. The electronic registration system relies on the use of a unique identifier, such as a serial number linked to a UPC (and/or RFID) or its equivalent, for each product that is purchased. The serial number is obtained at the point of sale for inclusion in a registration database, together with other information, such as a date of transaction. This database can then be accessed in connection with an attempted product return/warranty transaction for the purpose of determining if the product qualifies for return/warranty under applicable return/warranty criteria under which the product was originally sold. Such electronic systems may also be used in connection with repair and/or exchange transactions, in addition to returns, by enabling an accurate determination as to whether the product qualifies for any of these actions under the appropriate policies and criteria under which the product was originally sold.
The ER system uses pre-established return/repair policies and procedures that are programmed into the ER system so that the system can perform a check when a product is presented for return to determine if the product qualifies for return, replacement and/or warranty repair based on sales transaction information available in the ER system for the particular product at issue. Thus, known ER systems include a database of return qualification information (or warranty/replacement criteria) for various manufacturers and/or retailers which enables the system to make an accurate determination with respect to whether or not a product actually qualifies for return (or warranty/replacement) based on the appropriate criteria and at the time the product is actually presented for return. Such ER systems have greatly reduced improper and fraudulent returns and warranty claims.
While such ER systems have proven to be very useful in their current forms, additional improvements in the system are still desired to make such ER systems more flexible in operation in order to benefit customers, retailers, and manufacturers. For example, problems may arise in situations where retailers expect to receive commissions from service provides for the sale of hardware devices that accompany subscription/post-paid service agreements. Currently, retailers deeply discount their wireless hardware devices, for instance, for promotions designed to entice consumers to sign up for subscription/post-paid service agreements. Wireless service providers then pay commissions to retailers, after a predetermined period of time with the service, for each new customer acquired. This commission is intended to make up for the loss on (or reduced margin for) the hardware cost at the point-of-sale (POS). For example, a retailer may sell a “voice plan” for a mobile phone on behalf of a service provider (e.g., AT&T, Verizon, etc.) to a consumer and offer a mobile phone to the consumer at a reduced or zero cost. After a predetermined amount of time (such as, for example, 30 days), the service provider may provide a commission to the retailer, thus offsetting some or all of the loss incurred by the retailer.
A challenge facing the industry involves customers cancelling their services directly with the wireless service providers during a time window before which the retailer is eligible for the activation commission. Upon cancellation, the consumer typically is advised to return the hardware. Unfortunately, such returns are not consistently completed or tracked at the unique item level. A retailer thus may lose both a commission and the device. Because the customer typically signs a contract or agreement with the service provider as opposed to the retailer, the retailer is left with little recourse when attempting to reclaim the product and/or avoid having to forego the commission.
Consumer fraud is another challenge facing the industry. In an unfortunately not-uncommon scheme, devices are purchased from retail locations for free or reduced prices and the corresponding contracts are cancelled. Rather than returning the devices, however, they are shipped overseas, sold on Internet auction sites, pawned, etc. Any residual value thus benefits the scammer, while the retailer is left with the loss on the hardware cost.
These problems are related, in part, to the fact that retailers and wireless service providers do not have a systematized tracking system supporting the return of wireless devices.
Thus, it will be appreciated that there is a need in the art for improved ER techniques that close the gap between retailers and service providers, e.g., in connection with subscriptions/post-paid service agreements and related hardware and/or other devices or products.
One aspect of certain exemplary embodiments of this invention relates to closing the gap between retailers and service providers, e.g., in connection with subscriptions/post-paid service agreements and related hardware and/or other devices or products.
Another aspect of certain exemplary embodiments relates to providing unique item-level tracking from the POS transaction through to any cancellations in service and returns to the store or service provider.
Another aspect of certain exemplary embodiments relates to the ability to provide an override a return decline, on a serial number level (e.g., via the ER system and its associated return validation program), to authorize returns outside of the retailer return policy, when such returns are “expected” via a cancellation update registration from a wireless service provider.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, a method of facilitating return of products sold in connection with services at point-of-sale (POS) locations is provided. A sale of a service and a product associated with the service to a customer are registered with an electronic registration (ER) system, with the registering including storing an original sale date and an identifier associated with the product in an ER database of the ER system. When the service is cancelled by the customer at the POS location: (1) a return transaction is processed in accordance with a return policy of the POS location and/or the service provider, and the ER database is updated to reflect the return of the product and the cancellation of the service. When the service is cancelled by the customer through the service provider: (1) a monetary interest is taken from the user in the event that the customer does not subsequently return the product to the POS location, and (2) the ER database is updated to reflect the cancellation of the service and the taking of the interest.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, an electronic registration (ER) system is provided. An ER database is configured to store information pertaining to sales of services and products associated with the services, with the information including original sale dates and identifiers associated with the products, and with the sales having taken place at point-of-sale (POS) locations. A computer is configured to execute instructions tangibly stored on a computer-readable storage medium, with the instructions causing the computer to perform a method comprising: processing a return transaction in accordance with a return policy of the POS location and/or the service provider and updating the ER database to reflect the return of the product and the cancellation of the service when a service is cancelled by a customer at a POS location; and taking a monetary interest from the user in the event that the customer does not subsequently return the product to the POS location and updating the ER database to reflect the cancellation of the service and the taking of the interest when the service is cancelled by the customer through the service provider.
It will be appreciated that these aspects and embodiments may be combined in various combinations and sub-combinations to achieve yet further exemplary embodiments. Also, it will be appreciated that the exemplary embodiments herein may be implemented as any suitable combination of programmed logic circuitry including, for example, hardware, software, firmware, etc.